French Side Board

I have to dedicate today's post to a wonderful gentleman who contacted me a couple months ago. His mother had an absolutely beautiful dining room suite that needed a new home and thought I might have some use for it. The only catch was that he lived about 3-4 hours away in Calgary, but it just so happened that Sean was passing through that weekend to go snowboarding in Banff with his sister. The stars were definitely aligned!

Charles decided that it was more important to him that the furniture get a reinvention than trying to sell them or refinish them. I am sooo humbled that he thought to contact us with such a fun opportunity! Sean literally had his truck the fullest it has ever been, and I have yet to see another set with so many pieces. Side boards, china cabinet, a HUGE table and a load of chairs all crammed together for the journey!

They are in beautiful shape, but have seen some wear and tear like most antiques.

But today it feels fresh as a daisy!

{the remainder of my $1 auction jars and containers}

I was hoping this one would stick around for a while so I heavily distressed it to contrast with our glossy pink table.

On a different note, I am THRILLED to have tracked down a large enough glass lid for my cake stand! I picked up the cake stand last summer at a garage sale for a couple bucks, but it came with a foggy old plastic lid. I have stayed vigilant during my travels to find a lid that would fit an oversized stand like this and about 2 weeks ago I finally found it!

In case you were wondering it probably was the highlight of my week. Because yes, I am that lame. I need to get out more...

Back to the side board.

I think it is important to make sure that distressing is a little unexpected and not too predictable. Like real distressed items! When you only sand you tend to get a much too even and worn down look, so I like to scrape and bang up things in spots to keep it authentic...

I have been working on this sideboard's big sister, a MASSIVE china cabinet, so even though this guy has a loving new family to call it's own I should have my blank wall filled soon.

even if it is only temporary!